Life is Like a Carton of Sour Milk

It smells and there are chunks.

Today was grocery shopping day. We go on Sunday mornings because it is the least crowded day to brave the superstore. When we arrive home with our groceries, we usually do a quick clean-out of the refrigerator. Out goes the last of the wilted produce, the leftovers that never got eaten, the milk that doesn't pass the sniff test.

Today I set the carton of milk out on the little table we have by the garage door, planning to take it out to the edge of the woods to be poured out. Only I got distracted by squabbling children and completely forgot it. I know. We're all really SHOCKED that Ms. ADD got distracted.

The dog, however, did NOT overlook my forgetfulness and was just too intrigued by the carton to leave it alone. He turned it over. Strong smell and lumpy texture notwithstanding, he drank/ate it. Rob discovered this when he went to the car to get something out. While I was getting a bucket of water, soap and a mop together, Abby ran in to inform us that Bob (the genius dog) had barfed. All over the garage. Which is how I discovered that Bob had also eaten an onion. And a strawberry. And a LOT of sour milk.

So the moral of the story is no good deed goes unpunished or don't delay pouring out the old milk or curiosity may have killed the cat, but it makes the dog throw up.... Choose your own moral.

The good news is that Monday doesn't look nearly so intimidating now!

She Dements Me

I love her. But boy oh boy does she drive me crazy sometimes!

Quirky can be endearing. Unless one of your "quirks" is that you like to open board games and take out all the cards and spread them out on the floor. All of the cards from all of the board games. Monopoly, Candyland, Head Bandz, Memory. At the same time. Hundreds of little rectangles, all mixed together like a giant card melting pot: "Draw Four" snuggling up with "Go Directly To Jail." It only takes her about three minutes to create this chaos. The clean-up is much longer and involves me alternately cajoling and demanding and finally yelling a bit.

It dements me. It really, really dements me. It also makes me want to give our games away. Because no matter what punishment is doled out for this crime, the rate of re-offense is 100%.

Yesterday

I lay spread-eagle on the trampoline, eyes closed.

Watching nothing.

Doing nothing.

Just being.

Letting the breeze cool my sun-warmed skin.

Listening as it flipped the pages of an abandoned book to and fro.

The distant thrum of a lawn mower.

A bird chirping from his limb on a River Birch.

Squealing kids playing under the water sprinkler.

The dog barking at a leaf.

No one and nothing calling my name.

In the moment.

I am from handmaid quilts, White Lily flour and sweet tea.

I am from the wood sided house on the gravel paved road, the shade of pine trees and the sweet smell of honeysuckle in late Spring.

I am from pink and white azaleas, sandy soil and cotton fields, dogwood trees, magnolias and pine straw.

I am from Sunday dinners and Scottish, French, and British stock, from Rhoney and Dickinson, Hall and Brown.

I am from wood mills, teachers, newspapers and merchants.

From oral histories, told at the knee of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends and family recipes prepared with no written instructions or measuring.

I am from Baptists and lacy Sunday socks, black patent dress shoes for winter and white for summer. Slips with crinoline to make a dress twirl.


I'm from the Southern U.S., from hard work and honesty, lacy fried cornbread and cheese grits.

From the banks of Upper Lotts Creek to the rolling hills of west Georgia, from farms and homemade biscuits to ice delivery trucks and planer mills.

I am from boxes filled with snapshots of camping trips, family reunions, birthday parties and pets.

The One with the Medicine, Rinse Cup, and "Glue"

On Tuesday, Abby awoke at 2 a.m. complaining of an earache. Antibiotics were prescribed. First dose was poured, neatly measured - 1 teaspoon. The phone rang. While I answered it, she poured that teaspoon right down the bathroom drain.

On Wednesday, she wanted to sleep in my bed. I said no. She went to her room and put on her nightgown, came back into the kitchen and said: "I can't sleep in my bed. It's wet." I investigated and discovered a nice soppy puddle in the middle of the bed. And an empty toothpaste rinse cup on the bedside table. "Did you pour water on your bed Abigail?" You've probably seen that guilty look before. The one that functions as a wordless "yes".

On Friday, while I was in the den reading (what was I thinking!) Abby very quietly got out the flour, some water, a few cubes of ice and made really cold glue. There was glue and flour and water and little bits of ice. Everywhere.

Of course it would be the every other Friday that the cleaning lady comes... freshly mopped floor and vacuumed rug. I think there might be a rule about kitchen disasters only happening just after it has been cleaned?

Oh, What a (Not) Glorious Morning

Morning began at 2 a.m. for me, when Abby woke up with an earache. It took close to an hour for pain medicine to kick in and for her to go back to sleep. At 6:30, J.T. awoke complaining of a sore throat and fever. So we decided he would go to work with me and Abby would stay with MaMa. Trust me. No one wants to handle TWO sick kids alone. It is CIA level torture.

I packed them each a bag, some entertainment selections, medicine and lunches. We were, of course, running late to get everyone where they needed to be. Alot of scrambling later, we had everyone in the car, with their respective "stuff", all buckled in. So. The car wouldn't crank. It's not even MONDAY!

PaPa let us borrow his truck, doctor appointments were scheduled, we made it to work on time and $100 later, the kids have antibiotics and school excuses in hand.

And I have five alarm headache.

The Doldrums

See how puffy my eyes are? Winter turned to Spring almost literally overnight. One day it was cold and the next it was balmy and the Bradford Pear trees, Dogwoods, Lorapetalum, Dandelions and other assorted blooming plants and weeds burst into full pollination! We are now stocked with allergy meds... but it seems like trudging through the normal cycle of homework, extracurricular activities, Spring Fling, birthday parties, etc. is all the more difficult through the haze of allergy-induced sneezes and sinus pain and pressure. Ugh.

It also means energy for blogging has been zapped. As always, so many posts running through my head--photos of early Spring blooms, the local theater playing The Diary of Anne Frank, dusting off of old projects--has been delayed. I'm just catching up with what all of YOU have been up to as well! Hopefully things will settle out and regularly scheduled programming will resume.